Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You?
By Mary Beth Cooper
Every year hundreds of motion pictures are produced. Some will be hits, some
will flop, many will never even make it into theatres. Some recent films with
various TG-themes have been reviewed in the pages of Variety, the self -
proclaimed "Show Business Bible". Hopefully, they will someday get theatrical
distribution around the country, or at the very least, pop up somewhere on
cable television.
Mob Queen is a new comedy which had its world premiere at the Cinequest San
Jose Film Festival. Noted New York personality Candis Cayne stars as Glorice,
a TV hooker in 1950's Brooklyn who is hired to service an organized crime
boss. When she performs so well the boss (not realizing Glorice is really a
"he") proposes marriage, Glorice decides to go along with the wedding,
planning to blackmail the boss after the honeymoon. The film received a
glowing review from Variety critic
Dennis Harvey, who cites the film's "deft, droll humor".
On a much more serious note is Surrender Dorothy, which premiered at this
year's
Slamdance Film Festival in Utah. Leonard Klady describes this as "a
disturbing, hard edged tale of physical abuse and sexual aberration that pulls
no punches".
Director Kevin DeNovis also stars as Lanh, a heroin addict who is drawn into a
master - servant relationship with a friend named Trevor. Trevor manipulates
and bullies Lanh into becoming 'Dorothy', and uses Dorothy to act out his
twisted version of what Trevor perceives to be a normal heterosexual
relationship.
The Berlin Film Festival was the setting for the world premiere of the new
documentary The Brandon Teena Story. (Teena was a FtM transexual who was found
murdered in 1993.) Co- directors Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir interview
several people who knew Brandon, including his mother and sister, the girl
Brandon dated, her mother, and the two men convicted of killing him. Critic
David Stratton gives the film high marks for being insightful and powerful.
(Teena's story is also in pre-production in Hollywood. "All She Wanted" has
been optioned by Drew Barrymore, who will Executive Produce and star in the
picture.)
These films may at some point show up in your local art-house, on cable, or on
video. It's hard to say just exactly when.
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